The AFC East is one of those divisions where it just isn’t as competitive as others. Since the start of this century, the New England Patriots have been notorious for dominating the division while Tom Brady was under center. The Dolphins and Jets have had their one division championship since 2000 but it’s been the Buffalo Bills that are current top team.
Having an MVP quarterback like Josh Allen has put the Bills miles ahead of the rest of the division. While Miami has their early season fun, they have failed to take the AFC East away from Buffalo. Let’s face it, as long as Allen is in Buffalo, the Bills aren’t losing the division anytime soon.
Each team, even the bad ones, have either current or potential franchise player that were identified by Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report. Gagnon used one word to describe each team’s franchise player and the words used within the AFC East prove just miles ahead the Bills are against the rest of their rivals.
B/R has perfect descriptions for each AFC East franchise player
Listed franchise player | One word description |
|---|---|
Bills: QB Josh Allen | Elite |
Dolphins: QB Tua Tagovailoa | Limited |
Patriots: QB Drake Maye | Mysterious |
Jets: CB Sauce Gardner | Temporary |
No one is surprised that Allen is described as elite. He’s the MVP of the league and if you remove him from Buffalo, the Bills are closer to having the number one pick in the draft than they are competing for the Super Bowl.
"It’s really that simple when you’re the reigning MVP, and you’ve easily posted the best passing statistics in the NFL this decade."Brad Gagnon, Bleacher Report
For Tua, he’s had major bad luck when it comes to concussions and quite frankly, Gagnon is spot on about him being limited. There’s no question that he’s accurate, but there is no “wow” factor to his game. If he didn’t have players like Jaylen Waddle or Tyreek Hill to throw the ball to, he would be just another average quarterback.
Drake Maye showed signs of potential to help bring the Patriots back to relevancy, especially since now he has Mike Vrabel as his head coach, Maye has a prime opportunity to take a step forward. The only problem is that he has no one around him. However, that is destined to change as the Patriots have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft and have the most cap space in the league.
Then there are the Jets, who are…well…just there. It’s a brand new regime in the front office and Aaron Rodgers is out of New York. As Gagnon stated, “it’s far from ideal when a cornerback is a franchise player.”
However, Gardner is a true lockdown corner and is New York’s best player on the roster. We’ll see if they can change that narrative for the future.